Unfortunately, the patch did not take care of the problem at all. Read the link I posted. I would enable it only long enough to use it for the websites you need and disable it after until they fix it.

EDIT: It was REALLY late last night and I was too tired to post any more information. As Geo says, you have to read some of the warnings and then make up your own mind about Java. I don't have it on my Windows 8 computer at all. Supposedly this security hole is bad enough that US Homeland Security is advising people to uninstall it. I'll just link to a couple of blogs and articles and you can make up your minds yourselves.

Chief, if you really need it for some things such as on-line games, you could just leave it installed on your computer and enable it in your browser and then disable it when you are through with something that needs it.

WOW!!! So much info is making me dizzy. or should I say 'dizzy-er? Does all this data mean that as long as I don't open the program it can't hurt my 'puter???

I bought the Studio Visual Steps - Windows 7 for Seniors... (Dummies) and so far, many of the pictures are not what is on my screen. Haven't had a headache for years, but this book has certainly changed that. Each subject sends you to another, which then sends you to another, over and over, and I end up back to the first one again.

Does all this data mean that as long as I don't open the program it can't hurt my 'puter???

If a program uses Java, and you have Java installed, the program will use it. But it's not the programs you have installed on your computer that are the real problem. Do you know whether every website you visit uses Java? Or whether any of the ads on the websites you visit use Java? If not, how do you know that none of them will infect your computer through Java?

I'm not familiar with the book that's giving you a headache, and Amazon doesn't seem to let you see inside this particular book. But is it possible that the book isn't showing you pictures of every step? Or could they be showing you pictures of Control Panel when Category View is selected instead of Large Icons or Small Icons -- or vice versa? This page shows how to select Category View vs Large Icons viewhttp://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/windows-7-control-panel-features.html